Kriesel Family Update

Here's an update from Katie:

We are all doing fairly well.

John had surgery again last Thursday.  We are hoping that is the last one he will have to endure.  The surgery went well, but the recovery is taking a little longer than we had expected so we are still in the hospital.  We are hoping to be discharged by this Friday.

The boys are still with my parents back in MN.  They were out here for a visit in June after school got out and we all had a great time. Tee-ball took up the first part of their summer and now they have begun soccer.  Sports seem to help pass the time for them, but it's not the same as being with Mom and Dad.  The separation has been really daunting for them and now we are in the process of getting them some counseling to help ease the burden.

Our new home construction is well on it's way.  I haven't actually seen any of the progress myself, but I have had several emails from the Derrick's and my parents have been over to the lot with the boys to show them the progress.  The last update I heard was that all the exterior walls were up, the windows were ordered and the roof trusses should be up in a week or so.  The home should be completed sometime in mid-October and we can't wait.

We are planning to be back in MN for good by August 15th.  John will be transferring his care to the Minneapolis VA at that time.  We are both very excited to be back in MN and back with our children, family, and friends.  Some days it feels like we have been gone forever and some days it seems like the seven months have flown by, but at any rate the progress we have made is nothing short of a miracle.